Now I order you to retain this creed for your nourishment throughout life and never to accept any alternative, not even if I myself were to change and say something contrary to what I am now teaching, not even if some angel of contradiction, changed into an angel of light, tried to lead you astray. For even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which you have now received, let him be accursed in your sight. – St Cyril of Jerusalem

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Immaculate Conception

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION—December 8

"I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she will crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel." Genesis, 3:15.

In the early years of the seventeenth century the armies of Sweden threatened to overrun Austria. They won victory after victory. The Aus­trian Emperor, Ferdinand III, was desperate. In 1629 he decided to make a public appeal for the protection of the Blessed Virgin, toward whom he had a tender devotion.

He ordered the building of a giant column in the city square of Vienna. It was decorated with numerous emblems, all representing some phase of the Immaculate Conception. At each of the four corners of the foundation he directed that angels in armor be placed, treading the dragon under their feet, showing how our Spotless Mother won the victory over original sin and all sin. On the summit of the column stood a statue of the Mother of God, her foot on the head of the satanic serpent. At the base of the impos­ing pillar were carved the words:

"TO THE MOST HIGH AND GOOD GOD, LORD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH, FROM WHOM KINGS HOLD THEIR THRONES.

"TO THE VIRGIN MOTHER OF GOD, CONCEIVED WITHOUT STAIN OF ORIGINAL SIN, BY WHOM PRINCES COMMAND, WHO HAS THIS DAY BEEN CHOSEN BY PARTICULAR DEVOTION AS PATRONESS OF AUSTRIA, THE EMPEROR FERDINAND III ENTRUSTS AND CONSECRATES ALL HIS POSSESSIONS, HIS PERSON, HIS CHILDREN, HIS PEOPLE, HIS ARMIES, HIS DOMAINS; AND IN PERPETUAL MEMORY OF THIS, HIS DEVO­TION, HE HAS ERECTED THIS STATUE."

Never in the history of the land was there a more solemn celebration than that which marked the dedication of this splendid shaft. It gave tri­umphant testimony to their love of the Immaculate Conception of Mary.

The devout emperor marched in the procession, attended by his son Ferdinand IV, who was king of Bohemia and Hungary, by his daughter Marianna, who was queen of Spain, by representatives of many countries, by all the nobility, by religious communities and by the secular clergy. An immense crowd followed as the pious parade made its way to the foot of the column. There the emperor repeated aloud and with all the fervor of his
soul the words inscribed in stone, the words inscribed in their hearts, the words consecrating and dedicating himself and his kingdom and his people to the Immaculate Mother of God.

How pleasing this dedication was to Mary is seen in the sudden and striking assistance she sent to those who honored her Immaculate Concep­tion. Motherlike she hurried to help. A few days after this magnificent demonstration the emperor met the enemy at Eger, close to the invaders’ camp. With one blow he stopped the oncoming Swedes and forced them to sign a complete and lasting treaty of peace. His empire was saved.

Austria, or any other nation, never had more invaders than America has today. True, we do have friends. But those who plot our downfall are so great and numerous, so secret and satanic, that every true American must awaken to threatening enemies from within and without. There is no cause for hysteria, but there is need to realize that certain forces, foreign to the spirit of America, are working to wreck our glorious nation.

There is, for instance, a godless government called the Soviet, which openly admits its purpose to envelop us within its Iron Curtain. Agents of that Red regime are working in all classes and professions and in many departments of our government, to bring about the overthrow of all that we Americans hold sacred.

How long it takes some people to wake up! For decades the Catholic Church has been warning the world about Atheistic Communism. Only when war is waged in helpless Korea do some eyes and minds open.

Knowingly and unknowingly thousands of so-called Americans are working against our government. Our schools are honeycombed with teachers who are against God, the very foundation of our nation.

Another group who profess to believe in God are openly and secretly working against God’s Church, the Catholic Church, the most patriotic and powerful force for true Americanism in the land. In college classrooms, in Protestant pulpits, in secret societies, in telephone, back-fence, and bridge-club gossip there is ceaseless sniping at the beliefs and practices of a spirit­ual organization which stands and fights for every basic principle of the United States.

In this army invading America we see the greedy capitalist and the merciless money-changer who give ground to the charge of capitalist cru­elty. Thank God, not all managers and owners are lined up with them.

The invaders include racketeers and fomenters of violence, race hatred and bigotry, printers and peddlers of impure literature, producers and patrons of immoral movies, sellers and buyers of birth control misinforma­tion.

In that army we see Blanshards and Oxnams, so-called converted Cath­olics and Witnesses of Jehovah, all tearing away at the nation’s foundations.

Who can stop such invaders? Who can save our soil from such traitors?

All the policemen in the world, including our FBI and our army cannot repulse such attackers.

Like King Ferdinand and the people of Austria, we Americans will appeal to one who has been victorious before, one who has won the greatest victory of all time, the victory over sin. On December 8 we publicly and lovingly dedicate ourselves again to the Immaculate Virgin and Mother. Ask her help in halting the enemies of the country which chose her as patroness under the title of the Immaculate Conception. May Mary Immac­ulate, the victorious Virgin, win another victory for us. Amen.
[From 'Feasts of Our Lady'] (Out of Print, from the 1940’s)

PLEASE DONATE TO KEEP THIS BLOG OPERATING. GOD BLESS+ YOU WILL ALWAYS BE IN MY DAILY PRAYERS! Marianne, my wife, suffered a heart attack on March 13th, 2012. On 7/23/2013, she suffered a stroke and was hospitalized for over 3 weeks. On 8/9/2013, Marianne went to the Lord. Deacon John

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Psalm 34 (35) Speaks to my heart:

The Lord, a saviour in time of persecution
O Lord, arise to help me.
Judge, Lord, those who are judging me:
attack those who are attacking me.
Take up your shield and come out to defend me.
Brandish your spear and hold back my pursuers.
Say to my soul, “I am your deliverance.”
Let them be thrown into confusion,
those who are after my life.
Let them be weakened and put to flight,
those who plan harm to me.
Let them be like chaff blowing in the wind,
when the angel of the Lord scatters them.
Let their paths be dark and slippery,
when the angel of the Lord harries them.
For it was without cause that they spread out their nets to ensnare me,
without cause that they dug a pit to take my life.
Let death come upon them suddenly,
may they be entangled in their own nets.
But my soul will exult in the Lord
and rejoice in his aid.
My bones themselves will say
“Lord, who is your equal?”
You snatch the poor man
from the hand of the strong,
the needy and weak
from those who would destroy them.
Lord, plead my cause; defend me with your strength.
Lying witnesses rose up against me;
they asked me questions I could not answer.
They paid me back evil for the good I did,
my soul is desolation.
Yet I – when they were ill, I put on sackcloth,
I mortified my soul with fasting,
I prayed for them from the depths of my heart.
I walked in sadness as for a close friend, for a brother;
I was bowed down with grief as if mourning my own mother.
But they – when I was unsteady, they rejoiced and gathered together.
They gathered and beat me: I did not know why.
They were tearing me to pieces, there was no end to it:
they teased me, heaped derision on me, they ground their teeth at me.
My tongue shall speak of your justice, all day long.
Lord, how long will you wait?
Rescue my life from their attacks,
my only life from the lions.
I will proclaim you in the great assembly,
in the throng of people I will praise you.
Let not my lying enemies triumph over me,
those who hate me for no reason,
who conspire against me by secret signs,
who do not speak of peace,
who plan crimes against the innocent,
who cry out slanders against me,
saying “Yes! Yes! We saw it ourselves!”
You see them, Lord, do not stay silent:
Lord, do not leave me.
Rise up and keep watch at my trial:
my God and my Lord, watch over my case.
Judge me according to your justice,
Lord: my God, let them not rejoice over me!
Let them not think to themselves,
“Yes! We have what we wanted!”
Let them not say,
“We have swallowed him up.”
But let those who support my cause rejoice,
let them say always “How great is the Lord,
who takes care of his servant’s welfare.”
And my tongue too will ponder your justice,
and praise you all day long.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.